AEW Collision Review - February 3, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston def. "Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith in an AEW Continental Crown Championship Proving Ground Match

I've said it several times in the last two months, but I've been damn impressed by Keith in AEW and Ring of Honor. I've been wondering where his "All Elite" graphic has been and he finally got it after this over, which was cool. He and Kingston had a really fun opener. Like I said about Kingston's recent outing against Willie Mack, I appreciated that this wasn't for the title because it's not as if Keith did anything to earn a shot.

Bryan Danielson def. Hechicero

Hechicero made his AEW in-ring debut on Friday's Rampage, winning an eight-man tag team match alongside some other CMLL stars. I know nothing about the guy, but from what I've seen so for, he's certainly skilled. There was no reason to believe Danielson was losing here (especially as he teases a rematch with Kingston), but they had a very well-wrestled match, nonetheless.

FTW Champion Hook def. The Outrunners in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

I was worried Hook would go back to squashing enhancement talent following his strong showing against Samoa Joe last month, and that's what he did here, but at least it was teased on Dynamite that his next rival will be Brian Cage. Granted, beating Cage doesn't mean much, but it's better than doing this sort of stuff every week. Even with the odds stacked against Hook here, I appreciated that this was kept on the shorter side.

House of Black Interrupted Mark Briscoe

Briscoe's promo was pretty basic stuff, but it's always a treat getting to hear from him. House of Black interrupting him made sense considering Briscoe got involved in their Steel Cage match last week and caused them to lose, but I'm curious if this will be a one-off or a full-fledged feud with Briscoe feuding with the group. Honestly, whatever the hell gets Malakai Black back in singles matches, I'm down for.

Serena Deeb def. Queen Aminata

As I mentioned in my review of Friday's Rampage, Aminata really needs to start winning matches soon. It was reported last month that she's been signed, so it's not as if she was in a Bryan Keith-esque situation and was pulling enhancement duty until she was offered a deal. If she's a full-fledged member of the roster, she shouldn't be losing every match she was. If nothing else, it was a well-worked affair with Deeb picking up another victory.

Tony Schiavone Interviewed Swerve Strickland

I'm glad Strickland got some mic time in front of the crowd at a time when he's such a fan favorite. He'll be facing Adam Page on Wednesday's Dynamite and the winner will fight Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at Revolution, so he had a chance to address that here and make it clear he wants no interference this time (Mogul Embassy interfered in his previous outings against Page). Hopefully that means a babyface turn is imminent because there's no use in swimming upstream instead of embracing the organic reactions.

Red Velvet def. Vertvixen

Vertvixen has made plenty of AEW appearances on Dark over the years and played her role well here in putting over Velvet. Unfortunately, this was not very good. I just don't know what reason the AEW audience would have to care about Velvet currently. She's still subpar in the ring and the finish looked terrible. The fact the camera caught it was even worse. Velvet will face Toni Storm in an eliminator match on Dynamite, but the outcome is obvious.

Daniel Garcia and FTR def. Nick Wayne, Killswitch and AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage

Garcia and FTR work wonderfully as a trio and I'm happy they're sticking together even though their feud with House of Black is over. This was an entertaining main event you'd expect from these six stars with non-stop action and they got a ton of time. Garcia picking up the pinfall win for his team must mean he'll eventually challenge Christian Cage for the AEW TNT Championship, but not at Revolution because I assume that spot goes to Adam Copeland.

Overall Show

Collision has settled into a nice rhythm so far this year where the wrestling is top-notch and some storylines are being furthered, so the two hours aren't completely inconsequential. It still feels like a setup show for the subsequent Dynamite and isn't on par with the program as a result, but the two hours are largely enjoyable and breeze by. You didn't miss much if you didn't tune in, but it wasn't a waste of time.

SEE MORE: Collision Reviews